How to Clean Tools for Elderly Care

One aspect of caring for the elderly is keeping the tools and equipment used to provide care clean and sanitary. Although medical equipment is often essential to providing good patient care, the same equipment can transmit illness-causing germs to the patient. Cleaning, disinfecting and sterilization are the three common ways to clean tools used for elder care, but not all are appropriate methods for cleaning everything. Determining the proper method to clean tools or equipment is the first step in protecting the patient from unnecessary exposure to disease.

Instructions

• 1

  Separate and organize the tools that need to be cleaned.

• 2

  Identify low-risk items as those which only have contact with the patient's skin, such as a stethoscope or a blood pressure cuff. Include environmental objects like the floor, walls and sinks. These items can be adequately cleaned by washing with water and detergent. Allow to air-dry before using. Disinfect these items only if they have been used on a patient who is contagious or very susceptible to disease, such as someone with a compromised immune system.

• 3

  Separate and identify the tools that have intermediate risk for spreading infection. Choose tools that have contact with mucous membranes but do not penetrate the body, such as thermometers, respiratory equipment and endoscopes. Care for intermediate-risk tools by cleaning them with a high-level disinfectant. Disinfectants are classified as low-level disinfectant (LLD), intermediate-level (ILD) and high-level (HLD).

• 4

  Identify high-risk tools as those which penetrate the body, such as surgical equipment and implants. Sterilize these items, but cleaning with an HLD may also be used when sterilization is not possible.

• 5

  Do not attempt to clean equipment or sterilize tools that have been packaged for single use.